On hill collisions

[JCF]

The point of my simplified sketch was not to capture the facts and circumstances of the video but to provide a geometric illustration that the definition of "ahead" being defined by each individual's chosen line as fundamentally flawed. That it also showed that skier B was ahead by reference to the direction of the slope and thud the direction of skier A at t0 was a useful secondary point.

I had that exact situation in that diagram happen to me this past season.
I was skiing the more direct route nearer the treeline and I am keeping an eye on a skier to my left as I make my

turns down the fall line (my path down the hill is maybe 15 yards wide left to right and the slope is maybe 100 yards wide) We are traveling at about the same speed, not fast, not slow. There are no other skiers in view.
The other skier then makes a turn to the right diagonally across the fall line - and just keeps on coming in my direction - right at me. I am thinking he will turn, he will turn.......but he doesn't. Just keeps coming towards me until he is about ten feet away when I yell at him and he still bumps into me.

Had nothing to do with who was ahead of who - it was a total absence of situational awareness on the other skiers part.​

 

[4ster]

That’s a sweet uphill on the left! Where is that? Need a field trip.

Lower section of Main Street in Strawberry at Snowbasin. It is a natural, super wide halfpipe with banks on both sides although they don’t groom it as wide as they used to.

 

[scvaughn]

A final concern -
in this instance, the skier shows no awareness of anything outside of her downslope focus ;

IF she is skiing with headphones/earbuds, and the snowboarder calls, ' ON YOUR LEFT ! '
I add 50% of the responsibility to the skier.
Save your music for the lift.

Please ! Be aware of those around you And act to prevent collisions.

in 2022, it is rarely as simple as who is "ahead" .


respectfully. skiJ

I refuse to listen headphones while skiing, biking, or hiking because doing so dramatically increases my chances of injury. I need to be able to hear what is going on outside of my field of vision, especially on the relatively narrow runs at my home mountain.

On weekends, I stick to the bumps and trees as much as possible, because they tend to scare away people who don't know what they're doing. Suffice it to say, I'm getting better at bumps and trees...

 

[scott43]

I refuse to listen headphones while skiing, biking, or hiking because doing so dramatically increases my chances of injury. I need to be able to hear what is going on outside of my field of vision, especially on the relatively narrow runs at my home mountain.

I'm going deaf..silence is golden..wish I thought of that ealier...

 

[scvaughn]

I'm going deaf..silence is golden..wish I thought of that ealier...

I hope I have not offended you. When I ski or bike, I assume that everyone else cannot see or hear me, unless they clearly acknowledge that they do. Seems safer that way.

 

[geepers]

This came up on my Facebook feed on Ikon Pass Holders. It's difficult to see who might be at fault. The video isn't shot from a great perspective as to if the skier or snowboarder is "ahead of" the other. It created quite a discussion with no clearcut answer. Most people refer to the "downhill" person rather than "ahead of" now being used in the responsibility code.

Here's another incident with a different camera perspective. Vid should be cued to start around 10:30. Interesting who the husband blames.





Can't help but think a big part of getting skiers/boarders to understand that it is their responsibility to avoid those below them is that adults are continually subjected to driving on multi-lane roads where everyone pretty much stays in their lane. But out on the hill there are NO lanes.

 

[fatbob]

She was a frikkin incompetent. If we want to add to the rap sheet we can say the husband was stopped in the middle of the run where he shouldn't be and that caused her to ski the line to get to him where she hit the other skier

Fundamentally though people are dumb. The code doesn't provide because people don't follow it.And if they do try to follow it they don't understand it because, as we've seen in this thread, of their personal interpretation of poor words like "ahead". For a single c turn from traverse there are 180 deg of ahead which co-incidentally might be called "downhill".

 

[cantunamunch]

I watch that video and I can't help but see massive front/back balance issues that distract me from listening to the commentary.

 

[ski4snacks]

Ski areas investigate to cover their asses. Any info from that investigation may require a lawyer. Here are parts of an email I received recently:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 22 I was injured while skiing. Someone ran into me and I broke my neck again!

C2, C4, C5, C6, C7 and T1 all fractured.

I spent a couple of weeks in the hospital, neurosurgeons put a plate in and fused my C4 and C5 to address instability, and I am slowly recovering here at home.

Unfortunately I can’t remember anything of the day. I vaguely remember going up skiing, but don’t remember getting hit, ski patrol, ambulance, ER, CT scan. The first I remember is going in for an MRI in the hospital the following morning. I wasn’t hit in the head, but apparently got a whiplash concussion. Kept puking for 5 days. I lost use of my right arm, but my range of motion and arm strength are slowly improving and I am optimistic that the arm will come back.

We received a “guest incident report” from ******. It had very little information except who was involved and location and noted that I was struck. Apparently the incident happened at the bottom of **** near the lower half of the half pipe.

Wanting to know more about what happened, I called ***** at ****** Ski Patrol, thanked them for saving my life, and asked if they had any additional information., (i.e. witness reports, etc) **** was nice, but informed me that (the area) forbids them from sharing any additional information. He gave me the number of the******* risk manager and I called him. He wouldn’t let me know if they have any additional info and told me that the only information that they would share is in the guest incident report. He was quite obnoxious.

Do you have any contacts that might be willing to share some additional information or suggestions on what information they might have? I am no way attempting to fault*****for anything that happened to me, I just want to know what happened.

Glad you are alive, I got hit twice in one day. The adult snowboarder hit, well punched my cheek so hard he snapped my neck. I heard every vertebrae pop. I however walked away...he barely stopped, skied away. There was an instructor who said that they don't report incidents unless ski patrol carries you down. I could not lift my head for 2 weeks or get out of bed without help. Thankfully I'm fine. Best of luck healing to you.

 

[HardDaysNight]

Fundamentally though people are dumb.

This is pretty much all that can deduced from most of the threads on this topic.

 

[cantunamunch]

This is pretty much all that can deduced from most of the threads on this topic.

Hanlon's razor.

One problem with Hanlon's razor is that it clashes with actual humility on any scale. Basically, anyone who actually is humble has to conclude people are evil.

 

[James]

People ski like they drive, except they don’t have brakes.

 

[slowrider]

 

[4ster]

 

[geepers]

I watch that video and I can't help but see massive front/back balance issues that distract me from listening to the commentary.

Compartmentalize.

People ski like they drive

Which is kind of my point. We'd have less problems on the ski hill if multi-lane freeways had no lane markings, people just zig zagged all over and the only traffic rule was don't run into anyone.

 

[François Pugh]

Compartmentalize.



Which is kind of my point. We'd have less problems on the ski hill if multi-lane freeways had no lane markings, people just zig zagged all over and the only traffic rule was don't run into anyone.

True. I can't say the same for the highways though.

 

[fatbob]

Compartmentalize.



Which is kind of my point. We'd have less problems on the ski hill if multi-lane freeways had no lane markings, people just zig zagged all over and the only traffic rule was don't run into anyone.

Yup because few would make it to the ski hill alive.

 

[cantunamunch]

Yup because few would make it to the ski hill alive.

Exactly. These lot must be superb skiers

Compartmentalize.

Oh, I have. And the proof is my absolute shrieking terror of those people is behind a bulkhead with the hatch dogged tight.

 

[geepers]

Yup because few would make it to the ski hill alive.

So plenty of upside...?


MHO it highlights the need to point out in large, loud neon letters "This is not the highway! There are no lanes! Learn the Alpine Code!"

 

[Paul Lutes]

I think I saw that horse twitch, so .....
Imagine all the entertainment if the slopes had highway rules: changing lanes without signaling, rear enders, boarders splitting lanes, texans rolling coal, overloaded RVs swaying swaying so much they're close to tipping, ......

The horse got up and left, so I'll stop right there.